VAL PENNY

Let's imagine you've finished writing your book, the editing is done and it's almost ready to go. Now is the time to write the blurb that...

Every gripping story needs compelling characters to tell it and as the writer it is your job to create those characters and breathe life...

Some people say that everybody has a book in them. I doubt this is true. Even if it were so, I do not believe that everybody has the...

Authors generally fall into one of two categories, those who plot or those who don't. When I first started my writing career, I admit...

We learn early on in our writing journey that every story must have a beginning a middle and an end. We are also taught that our main...

The start of a new year is always exciting with the opportunity to look forward rather than back. This year my publishers, SpellBound...

Today it is a delight to welcome my friend and fellow author Sharon Cook to the blog to explain her compulsion to write. Sharon's debut...

One of the things I like best about Christmas is that my elder daughter and I often swap books that we have read and enjoyed during the...

It is my great pleasure to welcome my friend and fellow author Martin J Lake to the blog today. Martin's debut novel, Beyond The Stones:...

It was a thrill to produce my first collection of short stories in time for Christmas. It includes stores about DI Hunter Wilson and his...

It was a thrill to produce my first collection of short stories in time for Christmas. If I do say so myself, it makes an ideal and cost...

Most of us use social media to a greater or lesser extent to promote our work and we all know that some posts work better than others....

Authors vary a great deal in how they prepare to write their books. Some plot carefully using rolls of wallpaper to display their story...

I am thrilled to introduce my readers to my friend and fellow author Alex J. Adams whom I met when I attended Books on the Beach run by...

The first novel in my Jane Renwick Thrillers series of novels is The First Cut . The second in the series, A Fighting Chance, will be...

In contemporary literary studies, a theme is a central topic, subject, or message within a narrative. Themes can be divided into two...

A gripping plot can only carry an interesting story if it is carried by convincing characters. When I an creating a new character I start...

I suppose I should start this article with a disclaimer because, in reality it is mis-titled. Swanwick is a little village in Derbyshire...

Hunter’s Rules will launch at The Harrogate Crime Festival! Join me and SpellBound Books at 1pm Friday 19th July at the Alexandra in...

I have been writing and telling stories all my life. When I was a child, I used to make up stories for my little sister after our Mum put...